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on Armie uncancels himself in Uwe Boll’s ‘Citizen Vigilante’… grab the signed Limited Edition Blu-ray before it’s gone!I didn't see it that way, my brother. What I saw was an invididual going afte…
on FULLY LOADED! Arrow’s highly anticipated ‘A Better Tomorrow Trilogy’ arrives on 4K Ultra HD this SeptemberYeah, I love my Shout set, but this thing is gorgeous. And a big “hell yeah”…
on Armie uncancels himself in Uwe Boll’s ‘Citizen Vigilante’… grab the signed Limited Edition Blu-ray before it’s gone!don't know, maybe 'cause it implies that all muslims are rapist cavemen?
on Armie uncancels himself in Uwe Boll’s ‘Citizen Vigilante’… grab the signed Limited Edition Blu-ray before it’s gone!Does it have any classic lines like this one from London Has Fallen Why don't…
on COF Presents: The Top 10 Fight Scenes on a BusSons of the Croydon Night
on The Sin Trade (2026) ReviewI thought this would be the iQiyi film to break the losing streak for me. Whi…
on Armie uncancels himself in Uwe Boll’s ‘Citizen Vigilante’… grab the signed Limited Edition Blu-ray before it’s gone!I was watching this the other day, and I found myself wondering the same thin…
on Armie uncancels himself in Uwe Boll’s ‘Citizen Vigilante’… grab the signed Limited Edition Blu-ray before it’s gone!What’s “racist” about it exactly?
on Iko Uwais vs. Lewis Tan Round II: ‘The Raid’ and ‘Mortal Kombat’ stars face off in Keoni Waxman’s ‘Survive the Night’Looking at Gareth Evans' work outside Indonesia I think you may be on to some…
on Iko Uwais vs. Lewis Tan Round II: ‘The Raid’ and ‘Mortal Kombat’ stars face off in Keoni Waxman’s ‘Survive the Night’Looking forward to this.... Hopefully it gets a limited release near me and a…
on Iko Uwais vs. Lewis Tan Round II: ‘The Raid’ and ‘Mortal Kombat’ stars face off in Keoni Waxman’s ‘Survive the Night’I watched "Furious" and then watched this one way too slow. like 90's
on The guy is a f**king beast! Bren Foster puts life back into martial arts movies in Vertical’s actioner ‘Life After Fighting’[…] For Life After Fighting (2022), Foster wrote, directed, produced, a…
on ⚽ Stephen Chow is balls deep in post-production on the anticipated ‘Kung Fu Soccer’ (aka ‘Shaolin Soccer Part II’)A little too late, maybe, Stephen... And I think most people wanted to see yo…
on Wong Kar-Wai’s ‘Grandmaster’ re-released/re-structured in 3D!The Miramaxe version is free to watch. https://youtu.be/k3tOREQ8uYo?is=MgP8jc…
Category Archives: Japanese
Terra Formars (2016) Review
Director: Takashi Miike Cast: Hideaki Ito, Takayuki Yamada, Kane Kosugi, Emi Takei, Shun Oguri, Masaya Kato, Rinko Kikuchi, Tomohisa Yamashita, Eiko Koike, Mariko Shinoda, Rila Fukushima, Kenichi Takito, Rina Ohta, Ken Aoki, Kiyohiko Shibukawa Running time: 108 min. By Matija Makotoichi Tomic Fans and those familiar with the work of Takashi Miike might be missing the “old” Miike; whoever enjoyed films such as Dead or Alive, Deadly Outlaw: Rekka, Ichi … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Hideaki Ito, Kane Kosugi, Takashi Miike
Kwaidan | aka Ghost Stories (1965) Review
AKA: Weird Tales Director: Masaki Kobayashi Writer: Yoko Mizuki, Lafcadio Hearn Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Rentaro Mikuni, Tetsuro Tamba, Takashi Shimura, Michiyo Aratama, Kunie Tanaka Running Time: 182 min. By Kyle Warner It’s long been my opinion that every great filmmaker should try their hand at horror at least once over the course of their career. Horror directors sometimes repeat some of the same themes, the same scares, the same monsters, and it takes … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Kunie Tanaka, Masaki Kobayashi, Michiyo Aratama, Rentaro Mikuni, Takashi Shimura, Tatsuya Nakadai, Tetsuro Tamba
Shin Godzilla | aka Godzilla: Resurgence (2016) Review
AKA: Godzilla: Resurgence Director: Hideaki Anno Co-director: Shinji Higuchi Cast: Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, Kengo Kora, Ren Osugi, Akira Emoto Running Time: 120 min. By Kelly Warner In the 90’s, the Japanese Godzilla was killed off by his own nuclear heart going into meltdown, and the American Godzilla was killed off by the world’s general disinterest in ever seeing Roland Emmerich’s monster iguana on screen again. Toho’s ‘Millennium’ … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Akira Emoto, Godzilla, Hideaki Anno, Hiroki Hasegawa, Jun Kunimura, Kimiko Yo, Mikako Ichikawa, Ren Osugi, Satomi Ishihara, Shinji Higuchi, Shinya Tsukamoto
Return of Godzilla, The | aka Godzilla 1985 (1984) Review
AKA: Godzilla 1985 Director: Koji Hashimoto Cast: Keiju Kobayashi, Ken Tankaka, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Shin Takuma, Yosuke Natsuki, Eitaro Ozawa, Hiroshi Koizumi, Mizuho Suzuki, Taketoshi Naito Running Time: 103 min. By Kyle Warner Godzilla’s back. Warner Bros. is crafting a kaiju shared-universe along the lines of what superheroes are doing and will be soon be pitting the Godzilla of 2014 against King Kong. Back in Japan, Toho has jumpstarted their own Godzilla … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Godzilla, Hiroshi Koizumi, Keiju Kobayashi, Nobuo Kaneko
Golgo 13 (1973) Review
Director: Junya Sato Cast: Ken Takakura, Mohsen Sohrabi, Jaleh Sam, Yadolla Shirandami, Jalal Pishvaian, Arezu, Siamak Atlassi, Arash Taj, Dariush Asadzade, Ezatallah Ramezanifar Running Time: 104 min. By Martin Sandison A couple of nights after the screening of Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance, a real rarity was presented at the 70th Edinburgh International Film Festival: The 1973 version of Golgo 13, starring the legendary Ken Takakura (The Yakuza). Never … Continue reading
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972) Review
Director: Kenji Misumi Producer: Shintaro Katsu Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akihiro Tomikawa, Tomoko Mayama, Fumio Watanabe, Keiko Fujita, Reiko Kasahara, Yunosuke Ito, Shun’ya Wazaki Running Time: 83 min. By Martin Sandison In February of this year, I attended a drinks function for the Edinburgh Film Festival, which takes place in June. I bumped into an acquaintance I’d known for many years, an actor and senior programmer called Niall Fulton, who the previous … Continue reading
Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701’s Grudge Song (1973) Review
Director: Yasuharu Hasebe Cast: Meiko Kaji, Masakazu Tamura, Yumi Kanei, Hiroshi Tsukata, Yayoi Watanabe, Sanae Nakahara, Akemi Negishi, Toshiyuki Hosokawa, Junko Ando Running Time: 89 min. By Kyle Warner After apparently feeling that his job was done, director Shunya Ito left the Scorpion series after the third film, Beast Stable. Stepping into his place would be Yasuharu Hasebe, a director with no shortage of experience working in the exploitation genre, including three Stray Cat … Continue reading
Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973) Review
Director: Shunya Ito Cast: Meiko Kaji, Mikio Narita, Reisen Lee, Yayoi Watanabe, Koji Nanbara, Takashi Fujiki Running Time: 87 min. By Kelly Warner Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable is a very different movie from the two that came before it. Meiko Kaji’s Matsu the Scorpion is on the lam after having narrowly survived her prison escape in Jailhouse 41. Wanted posters with her face are all over the city streets, warning that … Continue reading
Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972) Review
Director: Shunya Ito Story: Toru Shinohara Cast: Meiko Kaji, Fumio Watanabe, Kayoko Shiraishi, Yukie Kagawa, Yuki Arasa, Hideo Murota Running Time: 94 min. By Kyle Warner In the opening moments of Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41, we find our antihero Matsu the Scorpion (Meiko Kaji) chained up in solitary confinement. She’s been locked away for a year after the bloodshed she caused in the previous film. The series’ familiar theme song … Continue reading
Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972) Review
Director: Shunya Ito Cast: Meiko Kaji, Rie Yokoyama, Yayoi Watanabe, Yōko Mihara, Akemi Negishi, Keiko Kuni, Yumiko Katayama, Emi Jo, Isao Natsuyagi, Fumio Watanabe Running Time: 87 min. By Kelly Warner Almost every ambitious leading man or lady is on the lookout for that iconic role that will shoot them to superstardom, netting them a legion of fans and hopefully a mountain of cash. Roles that earn awards can prove … Continue reading
Sadako vs Kayako | aka The Ring vs The Grudge (2016) Review
AKA: Ring vs Ju-On Director: Koji Shiraishi Cast: Mizuki Yamamoto, Tina Tamashiro, Aimi Satsukawa, Masahiro Komoto, Masanobu Ando Running Time: 99 min. By Paul Bramhall Starting any review of Sadako vs Kayako might as well begin with a recap of the two titular horror movie franchises that they’re a part of. As the cursed spirit of the Ringu series, this installment notches up Sadako’s twelfth onscreen appearance (soon to be … Continue reading
House (1977) Review
Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi Cast: Kimiko Ikegami, Miki Jinbo, Ai Matubara, Kumiko Oba, Mieko Sato, Eriko Tanaka, Masayo Miyako, Yoko Minamida, Kiyohiko Ozaki, Saho Sasazawa Running Time: 88 min. By Martin Sandison Ten years ago my knowledge of Japanese cult cinema was lacking to say the least. Then the best cinema in Scotland, The Filmhouse, put on a season where I caught 11 movies in two weeks. The titles I watched … Continue reading
Murder Unincorporated (1965) Review
Director: Haruyasu Noguchi Cast: Jo Shishido, Yoko Yamamoto, Kon Omura, Yumiko Nogawa, Eiji Go, Daizaburo Hirata, Hiroshi Cho, E.H. Eric, Kanbi Fujiyama, Tonpei Hidari, Hiroshi Hijikata Running Time: 85 min. By Kyle Warner Before the Nikkatsu logo even hits the screen, one of Murder Unincorporated’s characters directly addresses the audience. “Hey, you!” he shouts with a snarl. “If you don’t laugh when you see this movie, I’m going to execute you!” … Continue reading
Mozu: The Movie (2015) Review
Director: Eiichiro Hasumi Cast: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Takeshi Kitano, Teruyuki Kagawa, Yoko Maki, Yusuke Iseya, Tori Matsuzaka, Hiroki Hasegawa, Fumiyo Kohinata, Sosuke Ikematsu, Atsushi Ito Running Time: 116 min. By Paul Bramhall Takeshi ‘Beat’ Kitano is easily one of the most recognizable faces in Japanese cinema, directing a number of movies that are rightfully considered masterpieces. When he acts, it’s usually also in his own productions, so whenever news emerges that … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Hidetoshi Nishijima, Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi)
Danger Pays (1962) Review
AKA: Danger Paws Director: Ko Nakahira Cast: Joe Shishido, Ruriko Asaoka, Hiroyuki Nagato, Arihiro Fujimura, Eiji Go, Bokuzen Hidari, Kojiro Kusanagi, Torahiko Hamada, Daizaburo Hirata, Toyoko Takechi, Zenji Yamada Running Time: 82 min. By Kyle Warner Danger Pays is an odd little movie. It shifts from wacky comedy to violent action at the drop of a hat. You wouldn’t know it at first, but the opening credits theme song is … Continue reading
Posted in All, Japanese, News, Reviews
Tagged Hiroyuki Nagato, Jo Shishido, Ko Nakahira
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